The EU cookie directive (EU directive 2009/136/EC) comes into effect on 26^th May 2012 and impacts anyone with a website targeted to the EU. The rules are intended to give web users the right to choose what information gets stored on their phone or computer. So the big question is what does this mean to us?

In summary, the EU cookie law requires anyone running a website to give website users information as to:

- What cookies are being used and set on the website they are visiting
- What the cookies do
- How long the cookies are going to be set for
- Why the cookies are being used

To ensure you comply with the EU cookie directive our recommendations are to undertake the following steps:

1. Gain a thorough understanding of what a cookie is
2. Educate yourselves on what the EU cookie directive requires you to do
3. Undertake an audit of your site to establish where cookies are applied and remove any unnecessary cookies
4. Update your website privacy policy to comply with the new rules – it would be advisable to seek legal advice on this
5. Ensure you update your website to ask visitors, on arrival to your site, for their permission to receive cookies, clearly explaining what they are for, what they do, how long they will be set for and why they are being used.  There are a number of plug-in tools available designed to help make your website compliant.

If you haven’t yet looked into how you can ensure your website complies, there’s no time like the present!

Where Next?

Take a look at our the range of services we offer and feel free to get in touch with any marketing queries

A few weeks have passed since Analytica 2012 (17-20 April 2012) – and enough time to let the dust settle and take stock.

There is no doubt about it, this analytical and life science trade show is extremely good for exhibitors. Clare (Jones) and I spent two full days touring the halls and pretty well every exhibitor that we spoke with said that they were having a good show. It felt like it was “buzzing” – although some halls were definitely more busy than others. Official figures showed 30,000 visitors from over 110 countries, 1,026 exhibitors, and more than 1,700 participants of the conference, an increase of more than 40 percent. Of the visitors, the feedback that I got was that there were a high number of purchasers/recommenders. For us, two days was not enough to do it justice…

As a business-to-business event, Analytica is also good, with many distributorship deals either starting or ending at the show.

It’s also well attended by media from Germany (of course), Europe and the US. So it’s a great opportunity for a major press event, though there are a few of these, so organise yours early. And that’s where Alto Marketing can help. With our media contacts and expertise, we can work with you to organise and run high impact media events at Analytica, or other shows and conferences. See our website, or contact me for more information.

So, the take home message? While Pittcon is desperately trying to hold its own, the biennial Analytica is thriving. Make sure you book your stand for two years time and don’t miss out.

See you in Munich in 2014!

Where next?

Alto Marketing attends many exhibitions and conferences across the life science and healthcare sectors. Take a look at some of our other event reports: SLAS, Arab Health, Medica

SelectScience go behind the scenes at the London Olympics Anti-Doping Science Centre to bring you an exclusive look at the science, challenges and people behind this summer’s Games.

6,250 samples, 400 square meters of lab, 150 anti-doping scientists, 24 hours a day/7 days a week, 1 military style operation led by 1 man and his specialist team: Professor David Cowan’s academic career has been building to this Olympic moment. We went behind the scenes at the London Olympics Anti-Doping Science Centre to bring you an exclusive look at the science, challenges and people behind this summer’s Games.

The anti-doping laboratory, located at GSK Harlow, Essex, is the most high-tech in the history of the games. Professor David Cowan, Director of King’s College London’s Drug Control Centre, is independently leading the operation from the GSK base: “We have developed, with GSK support, super-fast and super-sensitive technologies to be able to detect use of prohibited substances. Our role is to ensure the efficient and effective operation of the lab to deliver robust anti-doping testing for the Games”.

Professor David Cowan co-founded the Drug Control Centre at King’s College London in 1978, and became its Director in 1990. He has published extensively in the field of pharmaceutical analysis especially as it relates to detecting drug administration in sport. He has held positions such as Visiting Laboratory Director and Co-Director of previous games, as well as being a member of the IOC Medical Commission, but this is his debut as Director for a major Olympics Games.

Chain of Custody 

The forensic, or evidential, nature of this lab means a strict chain of custody is critical: Professor Cowan knows where each individual athlete’s sample is at any given time and who is handling it. From sample arrival to result, a new barcode system, a first for the Olympics and Paralympics, manages each athlete’s ‘A’ sample as it is processed, prepared, analyzed, and – if there is a positive – re-analyzed. If repeat analysis of the ‘A’ sample is positive for a prohibited substance, the ‘B’ sample is opened and analyzed, in the presence of the athlete if they wish.

If an athlete challenges a result from this lab, he will have a difficult time pointing a finger at the processes, or as Professor David Cowan advises: “the best way to beat the test is not to take drugs if you want to come to London”.

Cutting-Edge Techniques

Effective separation and sensitive detection in a robust process is key – ‘planning for the last sample’ is Professor Cowan’s motto. The team will employ the latest analytical techniques: Ultra High Performance Liquid Chromatography (UHPLC) will ensure fast chromatography with excellent resolution, and triple quadrupole mass spectrometers will provide high-sensitivity with a speed of operation to match the UHPLC process.

Gas Chromatography and Isotope-Ratio Mass Spectrometry, as well as clinical chemistry techniques, will also be used to detect as many as 400 different substances across multiple pharmacological categories. Techniques are still being scrutinized, with the possibility of nanoLC being added to the process over the coming weeks.

With specialists still setting-up the instruments, fine-tuning methods and training staff, the energy in this lab is palpable. Challenges lie in the volume and speed at which samples must be analyzed for an absolute result, or as close to absolute as defined by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

Man Power 

The man-management and shift-pattern challenges are new for the King’s College team, something which GSK, the providers of this vast lab, feel it has been suited to advise on. GSK has provided over £20 Million on lab equipment, supplies, software, and other resources. Sir Andrew Witty, CEO of GlaxoSmithKline said: “We have worked with King’s to put systems in place to enable this laboratory to test more samples than any previous Games and the same time developing a blueprint for doping operations at future Games.”

The King’s College team represents world-class expertise in anti-doping science. For recent PhD graduate and first-time Games analyst Ivana Gavrilovic there is a unique opportunity: “I’m very excited that experts from other anti-doping labs are coming to work with us. I hope that some of the skills and knowledge that I gained during my PhD will be applied at the Olympics. I’m very much looking forward to all of these things.”

SelectScience will be reporting on all aspect of the ‘Science Behind the Olympics’ over the coming months: Watch our ‘behind the scenes’ videos with the team at the London Anti-Doping Labs >> 

We recently ran a survey to investigate the impact that the progression and Royal Assent of the Health and Social Care Act 2010 – 2012 has had, and will continue to have, on businesses selling products and services into the NHS in the UK.  If you were one of those people who kindly responded to our survey – thank you so much.

The survey was sent to senior management, sales, marketing and business development personnel within medical equipment, device and diagnostic companies.  Just under 90% of you who responded, undertake the majority of your UK business with the NHS but there was considerable confusion over whether the health and social care bill will have a negative effect on your organisations.

Changing the way you market to the NHS

Having said that it was clear that since the coalition government has been in power in the UK almost 70% of you have changed the way in which you market your products/services to the NHS.

- Over 69% have developed and launched new products and services
- Just under 63% have changed your product and service offering to include value added services eg training
- 63% of you are selling your products and services into different areas of the NHS
- 56% of you are selling to a broader range of audiences

This is backed up by much of the work we are undertaking for our clients where we are increasingly tailoring our communications and messaging to the wide range of audiences that influence and make the decision to purchase within the NHS.

Less face to face time with the NHS

The survey revealed that you felt the best way to sell into the NHS is face to face, however 100% felt that it is much more difficult to meet NHS customers/prospects face to face than it has been in the past.  This is further supported by 86% believing that fewer NHS customers/prospects are attending the key trade congresses/exhibitions.  This is no doubt a reflection of budget cuts, staffing reductions and more demands being made on NHS staff time, as such there is a move towards online marketing with 76% of you feeling that email marketing is an effective way of targeting the NHS.

Demanding more ‘value for money’

In order to win NHS contracts the NHS is demanding more for less.  In particular, 71% of you agreed that you are being asked to provide more added value services (eg training) within your NHS contracts than you did 2 years ago.  We have certainly seen a trend in the past 2 years in working together with our healthcare clients in producing marketing communications and PR activity to communicate support services in addition to product focussed materials.

Threats from the emerging markets

86% expressed concerns about cheaper solutions entering the UK from emerging markets.  This is where brand awareness and reputation is vital.  The NHS is a risk averse organisation and is looking to purchase the best value with the lowest risk.  If you are able to support the business case for your product or service through testimonials from NHS clinicians, nurses and senior management, you will present yourself as a safe and proven option.  In addition to this if you are able to maintain an on-going marketing communications campaign including public relations activity in key publications and websites, you will remain top of mind when Trusts or CCGs are looking to invite companies to tender or quote.

Top tips for marketing to a changing NHS

The NHS will continue to evolve and in order to make sure you continue to sell successfully into the NHS, here are our top tips:

1. Build an NHS network:  To ensure you are kept abreast of the latest developments ‘on the ground’ within the NHS, map out the different NHS staff involved in the purchasing process and identify key contacts within each ‘group’ to form your NHS network from across the UK.  Develop a plan to nurture your NHS network to keep you informed of all the latest developments.

2. Know your audiences:  There will be a wide range of audiences involved in the purchasing process, from those that influence the decision, to those who make the decision.  Each NHS Trust or CCG will be set-up slightly differently so you will need to think locally and task your sales team with identifying all those involved in the process from clinicians to nurses to senior management.  Ultimately you need to make sure you know who the budget holder is.

3. Gather insight:  Get under the skin of the different NHS audiences by on-going face-to-face discussions, customer satisfaction surveys, user group meetings and round table discussions.  Understand what the different audiences need to hear to enable them to buy from you and tailor your marketing messages to the different audiences, eg:

- Budget holders:  Value for money, low risk
- Managers:  Training, service support, reliability
- Clinicians:  Quality, efficacy and innovation

4. Make it easy to buy from you:  Don’t assume your different audiences know who you are and what you do, and don’t rely on them coming to you.  Ensure your brand/product is recognised and understood by the different audiences and demonstrate how other NHS customers have benefitted from using your product or service.  Ideally you are looking to build a relationship with the NHS so that you can start to influence the purchasing process before the tender or request for a quote is issued.

5. And finally, deliver your marketing messages consistently and frequently through a variety of different channels

Where next?

Find out more about the services that Alto Marketing offers to target the NHS.

Alto Marketing will be ten years old this year (expect to hear more about this in a future blog post), and in that time the Alto team has utilised its expertise to help our clients raise awareness, attract website visitors, generate leads and, most importantly, make sales. We’ve seen plenty of changes in the industry, especially with the growing influence of the web and social media.

We are always looking at how we can shape developments in science and healthcare marketing, expanding our expertise to include new methods and tools whenever they become available. Over a recent coffee, some of us got talking about how we’d like to share some of this knowledge, and with that the new ‘Marketing Tools’ section of our website was born! Being Alto Marketing, we refer to them as “Altools” for short!

In the new section, which is available via the top menu on our home page, you will find links, walk-throughs, tips and tricks for some of the online tools we use to help our clients get the most out of their PR and marketing activities. This information is now freely available for you to access whenever you please, and ranges from guides on SEO and QR code production, through to making the most out of your website analytics services.

We hope these tools will be a big help to anyone working in life science and healthcare marketing. To make the best possible use of them (and the many others we have yet to include), contact us now to find out how we could help revolutionise your next campaign.

What we’ve added so far…

- Developing your SEO by investigating what people are searching for using Google
- Using word clouds to analyse the SEO of your copy (while creating attractive artwork in the process)

What else we’ve got planned so far this year:

- Using your web analytics service to improve your overall strategy
- Tracking the performance of the web links you send out (in emails, press releases etc)
- Getting the most out of QR codes (and look out for a section on Near Field Communication in the future)
- Getting automatic updates when your company or brand is mentioned on Google and social media
- Analysing how influential your Twitter activity is
- Many more!

Stay tuned over the next few months, as the Marketing Tools section of the website will be updated regularly with new insights and insider knowledge…

Where next?

What are you waiting for?! Why not start utilising the new tools section right away!

Alternatively, check out this blog post on other new PR and marketing developments we have recently implemented.

Unfortunately as we know, most new leads are not red-hot enquiries from a customer sitting by the telephone, desperately awaiting your sales call. They come in all different shapes, sizes and levels of interest. Now more than ever it’s imperative not to waste time chasing lost causes. Equally we want to make sure that good leads aren’t missed and luke-warm leads aren’t neglected. So how can we determine the best course of action for a particular lead?

One way is to use a lead scoring system. In order to do this, the lead itself needs to contain as much relevant information as possible. What do you need to know about your lead in order to make an informed decision on an appropriate follow-up strategy? Common considerations in B2B marketing will be the company size, industry and job role of your lead. This agreed definition will enable you to compare like for like and ‘score’ your leads; A = good fit to D = poor. For example, a lead from the Chief Purchasing Officer at a large company in an industry that your company specializes in would pretty much be the ideal lead and should score quite highly!

The next step is to measure the level of engagement for each lead and one way to do that is to see where the lead came from. Was it just a random click on a banner ad? Or did this person actively seek out information on your product? Again, you can score the leads based on these factors; 1 = high engagement and 4 = low.

So for each lead you should now have a rating, ranging from A1 to D4. Using this rating, the appropriate course of action can identified. So for an A1 lead an appropriate response would probably be to call as soon as possible! And for a D4…possibly don’t bother! The chart below shows some appropriate responses for each rating.

An appropriate action for leads ranked nearer the middle of the scale will vary and really depends on the individual marketing strategy for that company product/service. Often the lead is fed into an email marketing program with an appropriate message for each rating. So a low engager with a decent profile score will be sent a message that might help to encourage increased engagement. The prospect’s response to this email will then influence their ranking and subsequently affect the next communication they receive.

To find out more about lead qualification, and discuss your marketing needs, feel free to contact us.

Where next?

Find out about our complete service offering.

Exam season is rolling around again and whilst I’m fortunate enough to have those days behind me, my 18 year old sister is currently wading through mountains of revision so that she can secure the grades she needs to go on to fulfil her dream of becoming a doctor.

We catch up regularly online and via text about her ever increasing workload so I was really pleased to read on the BBC today about how research has suggested that drinking water can improve your exam grades. I have never posted anything on Facebook quicker!

According to the research from the universities of East London and Westminster, the results showed that students who took water into their exams scored an average of 5% higher than those who didn’t. Suggestions for the reasoning behind this is that consuming water may have a physiological effect on thinking functions that lead to improved exam performance. It has also been suggested that water consumption may also alleviate anxiety, which is known to have a negative effect on exam performance.

It’s been noted that further research is required to explore these explanations but in the meantime, I’ll be reminding my sister to stick to the water until June is over!

Where next?

Read more about our healthcare expertise

The growth of information and traffic on the internet has in turn generated an enormous market for internet advertising. This applies to all sectors and is ever more apparent in the Life Sciences marketplace – as the scientific community becomes increasingly aware of the technological advances in online marketing.

According to a recent report from the Internet Advertising Bureau UK (IAB), conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers, internet advertising leapt by 14.4% in 2011, to reach £4.8bn – a £687m rise on the previous year – which is the biggest increase in internet advertising in five years.

These record levels have been helped by a massive increase in video and social media adverts. This has lead to changes in our marketing objectives whereby, in addition to traditional platforms to promote scientific interests including referenced white papers and peer-reviewed printed publications, increasingly scientific advances and products are being communicated via blogs, bitmaps and banners

Driven by the increased popularity of smartphones and tablets, such as the iPhone and iPad, new touchscreen technology and 3G, video advertising saw particularly strong growth and now accounts for 10% of all online display advertising.  Increasingly the use of webinars, web-based conferencing and promotional videos are being adopted to provide new forms of communicating data in an interactive and informative way.

Similarly, the fact that social networks accounted for 27% of all the time spent online in the UK in 2011, has ensured that PR opportunities have been expanded to include Twitter, Facebook, Linked In and specialist social network platforms which offer new opportunities to reach a specifically targeted audience.

Overall, the central role that online marketing campaigns are taking, is set to continue as the advertising spend reaches and exceeds the £5bn mark.

Where next?

Take a look at our expertise and feel free to contact your Account Director or contact@alto-marketing.com with any questions about how we can help you with your online advertising campaigns.

Friday 23^rd – Sunday 25^th March was Sport Relief weekend, so in keeping with our tradition of doing something in the office for these events, the idea this year was to either wear something red or sports gear into the office on the Friday.

As usual my colleagues did their best in dressing the part but as I came in in sports gear and my top was mainly red, I think I win on both counts, even if I do say so myself (giving myself a big pat on the back!) We also donated money to the swear tin, which will be counted up and sent shortly.

After work, my colleague Paul Avery and I continued with the Sport Relief effort for another five and a half hours, from 18.30 to midnight, by joining a group of friends voluntarily taking donations on the Sport Relief pledge lines at the British Gas building in Southampton. There was a fairly slow start to the evening, but it picked up and became very busy around 21.30 onwards.  It’s a sign of the times I guess, as people were being asked to pledge online also. However, I believe I took the second highest amount of donations on our floor that evening (so another big pat on my back) and we were definitely all in need of good cup of tea by the end of our shifts. I would like to take this opportunity to say a big well done to everyone who joined in and gave up their time to help out with this worthwhile cause. Bring it on for next year!

Remember, you can still donate!

Continuing on with worthwhile causes, my colleagues David Robinson and Adrienne Walder will be taking part in a Swimathon for Marie Curie Cancer Care at the end of April so all donations welcome – please see following links if you would kindly like to donate

David’s page

Adrienne’s page

Where Next ?

Meet our charity focused team

A recent study published in the journal The Lancet has demonstrated that a daily dose of aspirin can reduce the risk of cancer and prevent the disease from spreading in existing patients.

Acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin to you and me!) is an anti-inflammatory drug which is often prescribed to patients at risk of heart disease and stroke, as well as those suffering from vascular disease. However, as a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory it does have potential side effects, the most common being ulceration of the stomach lining, which can result in severe internal bleeding. Although the risk of this is low in the general population – it is one worth bearing in mind.

So, how exactly can the effects of aspirin be harnessed in the fight against cancer? Well, in addition to its well-known painkilling effects, aspirin prevents platelets (the component of blood responsible for clotting and wound healing) from sticking together, thus thinning the blood – hence its use in the prevention of heart disease and stroke in high risk patients. It is not 100% clear how, but the study alludes to the fact that the drug slows the spread of disease by preventing cancer cells from being carried around the body on platelets, preventing metastasis and therefore disease progression.

The study performed by Rothwell et al involved patient data from randomised trials of daily aspirin verses no aspirin in the prevention of vascular events. It was concluded that patients taking daily doses of aspirin were at lower risk of long-term cancer death, and they saw a short-term reduction in cancer incidence and mortality, and a decrease in the risk of major extracranial bleeds with extended use.

Now, as someone who’s not a fan of taking tablets, especially ones that carry risks of their own, I’m not sure that I’m sold on the idea. However, anything that has the possibility to provide a better quality of life for those suffering with cancer has got to be worth a chance!

Where next?

Take a look at our scientific expertise